


Not-So-Happy Holidays

by rindomness



Series: The (Mis)Adventures of Sam Reese [6]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Transcendence (Gravity Falls), Family, Found Family, Gen, Hanukkah, Holidays, Parents, Sam Has a Rough Time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:16:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27788851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rindomness/pseuds/rindomness
Summary: It's winter break, and Sam, Dipper, and Silver are settling into their new apartment. Sam's trying to adjust to her new normal, and her parents...Her parents aren't helping, let's put it that way.
Relationships: Alcor the Dreambender & Sam Reese, Alcor the Dreambender & Silver Wills, Sam Reese & Alice Reese, Sam Reese & Gerard Reese, Sam Reese & Silver Wills
Series: The (Mis)Adventures of Sam Reese [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985777
Comments: 3
Kudos: 47





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place almost directly after The Moon is Bright and I Am Here, so read that first if you haven't already!  
> TW for:  
> \- implied verbal/emotional abuse

Sam had been unpacking books when she heard the knock at the door. She frowned, glancing to Silver, who was looking for their menorah in a different box. The knock came again, and Sam sighed.

“One second!”

“Do you want me to get it? You seem kind of busy,” Silver offered. Sam shook her head, stepping over the pile of books she had left spread across the floor in front of the bookshelf.

“I’ve got it. You keep looking. You know better than I do what you’re looking for, anyway.”

Silver nodded, and Sam stepped over to the door. She brushed some cardboard bits off of her sweatshirt, and opened it.

The two people on the other side of the door were surprisingly well dressed for winter in Pineview, and the suitcases were odd, too. The woman had false-blonde hair pulled up into a bun, and she smiled wide as she swept Sam into a hug.

“Samantha, sweetie! How good to see you! I almost didn’t recognize you, darling, what with how you did your  _ hair... _ ”

Sam felt her heart drop to her stomach.

“H...hi, mom. What... are you doing here?”

She had told her mom no. She had told her mom  _ no, _ hadn’t she?

“Surprise!”

Of course she had.

_ Of course she had. _

She had never been able to take no for an answer, had she?

“We came to visit for Christmas!”

“All... the way out here? Don’t you have your party in-”

“Oh, don’t worry about it one bit! We wanted to see you, darling! We can always reschedule that for next week. Aren’t you happy to see us?”

No.

“Um... sure. I... where are you staying? For how long?”

“Oh, sweetie! We planned to stay a week, though we hadn’t really considered where we were staying. We could always go book a room at a hotel, I suppose...”

Sam knew the answer her mom was looking for was  _ oh, don’t worry about it, you can stay here! _

She wasn’t going to give her that answer.

“That’d probably be a good plan, yeah. We just moved so we don’t really have the space for too many other people.”

“It’s just you, isn’t it?”

“Me and my roommate, actually.”

This was painful to do, and Sam was tempted to call Dipper just to get her parents to leave. That would feel good. It wouldn’t  _ be _ particularly good, though. They’d probably call the police or something, and Sam didn’t want to try to go through that whole system.

“Your roommate?”

Sam managed to duck out of the hug, and her mom stepped into her apartment.  _ Without an invitation, of course. _

Silver had stood up at that point, setting the menorah on the table they had set up in front of the window.

“Oh, I see! It’s nice to meet you! I’m Alice.”

“Um...” Silver looked to Sam, fidgeting slightly with their hands. “Mine... My name is Silver.”

“Silver! Such a pretty name. Where are you from?”

“Uh...”

“Hey, mom, could you maybe give them some space and give us some time to, you know, clean up? You could go get a room to stay at, get that all taken care of.”

Alice looked at her for a moment, and Sam felt her stomach drop, before a sweet smile came across her face again.

“Oh, what a good idea. We’ll be back in a few, alright? Kisses!”

Sam smiled as her mom left.

“It’s good to see you, Samantha,” her dad said.

“...Yeah.”

She shut the door, and the smile fell off her face.

“Fuck,” she muttered, watching the car her parents had driven here in go down the street. “She can’t take a no, can she?”

“Sam? What’s going on?”

“My  _ fucking _ parents. Neat. Neato. Cool. I’m... going to go call Alcor.” Maybe Dipper would know what to do.

Sam was really hoping that Dipper knew what to do, because she sure didn’t.

“I heard my name. What’s with the mood in here?”

Sam turned to see Dipper laying back on the couch, one leg balanced on the knee of the other.

“Shoes off the couch.”

He pouted at her, before setting his legs in the air as though they were propped against something else.

“Seriously though, you two are all shades of stress. What’d I miss?”

“My  _ mom, _ ” Sam grumbled, starting to put books away on the shelf.

“Didn’t you tell her not to come for-”

“I did. I told her no. I told her I wasn’t going to Jersey. I told her not to come here, don’t bother, mom. But no, apparently my word is  _ meaningless- _ ”

The bookshelf shuddered with the force Sam used to push a book into a spot.

“Don’t break that.”

“I’m trying.”

“Okay, so your mom’s here. Want me to scare her off? Some of the Flock have been getting antsy lately and it could be fun.”

“Don’t set demon sheep on my mom.”

“I wouldn’t be setting  _ sheep _ on her. They’re nightmares. Some dreams telling her to scram or else, y’know.” He flicked his claws, and Sam frowned at him.

“Please don’t set the demon sheep on my mother.”

He held his hands up.

“Alright, I won’t do that. Seriously, though, I can convince her to leave.”

“Then she’d know I’m mixed up with demons-”

“Aren’t you, you know,  _ studying _ demons? Isn’t that why you’re at college?”

“ _ Yeah, _ but-” Sam groaned. “You. I- she would- I don’t  _ know _ what she’d do if she found out you were hanging around. Call an exorcist or something. The police. I don’t know. It wouldn’t be good.”

“Alright, fine. I’ll play human while she’s here, that good?”

“Please. I... yeah. Please. She’s... she’s a nightmare.”

“I didn’t pry because you told me it was rude, but mind filling me in on what exactly it is that she’s done?”

“Let’s go down the list. Well, there’s Janelle, who my parents basically forced to live in the woods. There’s the damn dresses. There’s the parties. There’s the hair thing. There’s the forest thing. There’s the-”

“Okay, okay, I think I get the idea. What do you want to do about it?”

Sam sighed. “There’s not really a whole lot I  _ can _ do. I guess the best option is to just wait it out and hope nothing goes wrong while she’s here.” At least, not worse than things usually went when it came to Sam’s mom.

Dipper stared at her for a moment. “...Alright. Your call.”

By the time Sam’s parents got back from the hotel, Sam, Silver, and Dipper had cleaned up the apartment (somewhat) and Dipper was currently in his “human disguise” as Tyrone Birch, ordinary college student. When her parents knocked this time, he was the one to answer the door.

“Hello! How can I help you?”

Sam saw the look of confusion which crossed her mom’s face for a moment, before she recovered.

“Oh, we’re just visiting our daughter.”

Dipper made a show of looking back to Sam, as if he weren’t sure if this was right. Sam nodded, and she saw him turn back to her parents.

“Alright, come on in, then.”

He stepped back from the door, and Sam sat up from where she was lying back on the couch. Her parents stepped in, this time for real. She saw her dad glance around the room and watched as his face scrunched up into a look of disappointment. Her mom sat on the chair beside the couch and watched Dipper as he sat on the couch itself, beside Sam.

Silver had, at some point, hidden away in the bedroom they shared with Sam, not wanting to deal with people. Sam wished she could join them, honestly. She was happy Dipper had stuck around, though. She was pretty sure she couldn’t put up with her parents on her own.

“So... who’s your friend, Sam?”

“My name’s Tyrone. It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Reese,” Dipper said, and Sam noticed what she had dubbed his ‘business smile’ on his face.

“Please, call me Alice. Though it’s nice to see Samantha making friends with some manners.”

The barbed comment was hidden by a smile and sweet words, but Sam still felt the implication.  _ Samantha, mind your manners around the party, no one wants to see your misbehavior- _ Dipper glanced at her, and she realized she was gripping the bottom of her sweatshirt. She took a deep breath and let it go.

“So, Tyrone, what are you majoring in? Where are you from? Tell me about yourself!”

“Ah- well, I’m majoring in demonology,” Sam saw her mom’s face fall to disgust for a moment at that, “and I’m from Oregon. Portland area, mostly, but I’ve been pretty much everywhere in the state. Spent some time in Nevada at one point.” Dipper smiled.

“That’s nice. How did you two meet?”

Sam frowned. “Uh, classes, mostly.”

“Yeah, just hanging out after class.”

Alice nodded. “Well, it’s nice to see Samantha making... friends, at any rate.”

There was a cold politeness in her smile.

“What are your Christmas plans, Samantha, dear?”

Oh.

“Well, we weren’t really...  _ celebrating _ Christmas.”

She winced at how that sounded, and the hard silence that followed it. Dipper looked between her and Alice, concern on his face.

“You’re... not?”

“We... weren’t planning on it, no. I mean... college is a time to experiment with new things, right?” She bit her lip.

“I... suppose. But, darling, if you’re not celebrating Christmas, what  _ are _ you doing? It’s not like there’s much else to do this time of year!”

_ There’s plenty, _ Sam almost bit out.  _ You’re just bitter and closed-minded. _

“Well, we were going to celebrate Hanukkah,” was what she said instead.

Alice’s frosty smile dropped for a moment, before coming back, more forced than before.

“I... see. I take it, then, that you haven’t been going to church?”

“Not... exactly. Mom, can we not do this right now?”

“Samantha, your mother is simply worried that you aren’t paying mind to God,” her dad said from the kitchen table.

Sam could feel her eye start twitching.

“Have you considered that I can pay mind to God in my own way?”  _ Or even that I don’t have to believe in the same God you do, or believe in God at all? _

“Darling, we’re simply worried about you.”

“Demons are serious business, Samantha.”

Sam could feel her fake-nice smile threatening to fall.

“That’s exactly why I’m studying them,” Sam ground out, “so that I know what I’m doing if I ever get a job dealing with them.”

“Mrs. Reese, what do you and your husband do?” Dipper cut in, and Sam shot him a grateful look.

“Oh, well, not much. We run Reese Technologies, you know, the company which specializes in the most recent portable communication tech?”

Dipper nodded. “Oh, of course! I should have guessed from your name. You’re pretty big in your field, aren’t you?”

The conversation drifted into her parent’s work, and Sam sunk into the couch for a moment.

This was going to be a long week.

* * *

Her parents had gone to the hotel for the night, and Dipper was floating in the bedroom, Sam staring up at him from her desk. Dipper had been giving her glances for the past ten minutes or so now, and she sighed. She shut her laptop and stared at him.

“So, you clearly have something you want to say.”

“Why are they here, exactly?”

“What, my parents?”

“Yeah.”

“Can’t you just, I dunno, visit them in their dreams and find out or something?”

“What, I can?”

“Fuck, I don’t care. They’re here even though I told them no, I’m just as curious as you are. Go nuts, man. Let me know what you find.”

“It might have to wait, though. I’m getting a summons. I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

“Yeah. I’ll see you then.”

Dipper blinked out of the room, and Sam sighed, leaning back in her chair.

That was a good question, really. Why were her parents visiting? Sam had very little reason to believe it was just because of the holidays.

Oh, well. She’d tackle the problem later. Right now, she wanted to get some sleep. She’d need it if she were going to be dealing with her parents for the next week.


	2. Explosion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning for:  
> \- Verbal/emotional abuse  
> \- Child abuse  
> \- Homophobia  
> \- Ableism  
> \- Use of the R slur  
> \- Use of "queer" as a slur  
> \- Autistic shutdown
> 
> Anyway enjoy!

Over the next week, Sam was trying to dodge the uncomfortable questions about her recent school life from her parents. For most of the day, her parents hung around, and when Dipper had a summons, he had to make excuses for his absence. Going to the bathroom was a fairly common one, but didn’t hold up the best when he was gone for an hour or more.

Silver was trying to avoid Sam’s parents too, and Sam didn’t really blame them for it. They were spending time with Sazi and Devon while her parents were around, and there were a few times that they tried to apologize to Sam for it. Sam had honestly waved them off.

“It’s not a big deal, Silver. I wouldn’t want you to have to deal with them either.”

“But I’m leaving you alone with them-”

“I’m not alone. I have Alcor with me. It’ll be fine.”

Silver bit their lip, wringing their hands.

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure. Seriously, Silver, relax. Don’t worry about it.”

“I... alright.”

It was two days later when her parents wanted to see the rest of town. That was how Sam and Dipper found themselves walking around Pineview with Sam’s parents.

Alice and Gerard Reese were fairly unimpressed with Pineview, all things considered. The pair of them kept commenting on how small everything was, and Sam had to resist the urge to slap them. Just because it was small and not particularly rich didn’t mean it wasn’t valuable.

There were other values than money for Sam.

“How do you live in a dump like this, Samantha?”

“I live here because it’s where I go to school.”

“Ah... yes. About that...”

Oh, boy, what was it going to be this time?

They walked down the street, sun shining despite the chilly air.

“What do you plan to do after this?”

“What do you mean?”

“After... demonology.”

“I’ll probably get a job in the field, mom. That’s why I’m getting a degree. What else would I be doing with a college degree?”

“I mean... sweetheart. You know I love you.”

Did she?

“But you can’t seriously think that... that  _ demonology _ is a sustainable career path!”

“It is, though. Plenty of people have made lifelong careers out of the field-”

“And the time it takes! The danger! You’re dealing with  _ demons, _ darling. Demons are nothing but trouble.”

She saw Dipper glance away, and she got the feeling he was biting back laughter. The situation was pretty absurd, Sam had to admit. Never did she think she’d be having this conversation with her mother while Alcor the Dreambender stood beside her in a ratty hoodie and jeans.

When had her life gotten this weird?

“There’s safety measures, mom. Especially if you’re working through an actual establishment and not just going off solo without any kind of training. That’s why I’m in college to begin with.”

“Oh, yes, but... aren’t there better things you could do?”

Sam shrugged. She didn’t like where this was going, and she wanted to shut it down, now.

“Does it really matter if there are things that could be financially better? This is what’s interesting to me.” And it wasn’t exactly like she could leave the world of demons and cults behind, anyway. Dipper was right there, and she could actually do  _ good _ in the world this way.

Her mom didn’t seem satisfied by the answer, though.

“Just... give it some thought, alright, sweetheart?”

“I... guess?” What thought should she give it, anyway? She had already pretty much made up her mind. There wouldn’t really be much of a point to giving it much more thought.

Her mom smiled, though, and the rest of the day went on with the regular feeling of tension and anxiousness Sam had been feeling since her mom got here.

* * *

The next time her parents decided to probe into her personal life, it had been over dinner in the middle of the week. Dipper wasn’t there since he had gotten pulled along to a summons, so Silver had decided to come. Sam had told them not to worry about it. Silver had told them to stop being stubborn and that they were going to hang out with her tonight.

Honestly, Sam thought, it was probably a good thing that Dipper wasn’t here right now.

“So what is it that Tyrone does?”

Her dad had asked the question, and Sam looked up from her bowl.

“What do you mean? He’s an undergrad-”

“Yes, but what kind of family is he from?”

Sam stared.

“What?”

“What your father is trying to say, darling,” her mom cut in, “is that we’re simply worried about who you’ve chosen to go out with.”

Sam blinked, and slowly set down her spoon.

“Tyrone and I aren’t- we aren’t  _ dating _ if that’s what you’re-”

“Sweetheart, you don’t have to lie to us. We simply want to know what kind of person he is! He seems sweet, but... you never can be too sure.”

Yeah, because Dipper was a demon.

“I’m serious, we’re not dating. He’s a friend I met at class-”

“A friend who practically lives with you?”

“Silver lives with me!”

“Yes, but darling, she’s... well, a girl.”

Silver winced. Sam took a deep breath to keep herself from throttling her mother.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, you wouldn’t date a girl, would you?”

“Actually, I probably would, except I’m not dating anyone.”

The silence around the table was tangible, and Sam swallowed.

“Sweetheart. You know how we feel about those... issues.”

“How  _ you _ feel. I’m not you, mom.”

“Sweetie-”

“No, no, listen to me. Because you know what? I’m done. I’m  _ fucking _ done.”

“Samantha, language.”

Sam stood up.

“I’ll say whatever the hell I want.”

“Samantha!”

Her mom stood up across the table, holding almost a foot over her.

“Do not speak to me in that-”

“I’ll speak to you however the fuck I want! You know why?”

“Samantha-”

“Do you know  _ why, _ Alice? Because this is my fucking-”

“Samantha Elizabeth Reese, sit down  _ this instant. _ ”

Sam almost did.

She didn’t.

She balled her fists at her sides, and bit back the seething anger.

“Silver, if you want to go to the room, you probably should now.” She was a little scared how steady her voice came out.

Silver was silent for a moment, before she shook her head.

“I’ll stay.”

“Alright.”

“Some control you have over your house-”

“I don’t  _ control _ anyone who lives here! They’re my friend! Tyrone is my  _ friend! _ I don’t have to justify my friends to you-”

“If you’re going to be in charge one day you do!”

“In charge? In charge of  _ what? _ ”

“The company!”

Sam  _ stared. _

“What.”

“Samantha, what else did you think you were going to do? Run about summoning who-knows-what who-knows-where like some kind of  _ stupid- _ ”

Sam shook.

“No. No, you know what? Get out.”

“Samantha.”

“Get the fuck out of my house. Get the fuck out of my life. I want  _ nothing _ to do with your fucking company.”

“If I had known you would behave this way, I wouldn’t have let you leave to follow your silly dreams in the first place, Samantha. What, did you meet a group of preters who you liked? Is that what this is? Teenage rebellion?”

“I’m an adult, I can live my own damn life, what does it matter who I’m talking to-”

“Because you’re a Reese and we don’t  _ interact _ with preters!”

“Why the fuck not? Have you ever  _ met _ a preternatural person? Ever  _ talked _ to one?”

“No, but I don’t need to in order to know they’re bad. God wills it-”

“You’re cherry-picking. You’re cherry-picking a book that was written thousands of years before the Transcendence even happened, mom! What the fuck is wrong with-”

“Young lady, do not raise your tone-”

Silver was starting to hum, now, and Sam paused to look at them.

“Sil, do you need to go-”

They had their hands in their lap, tapping away, and they nodded, eyes squeezed shut. Sam dropped her tone of voice.

“Alright, hey, let’s go get your music, right?”

“What’s  _ wrong _ with her?”

“Them. They use they/them-”

“Oh, what, is she some kind of re-”

“Do not. Do fucking not go there.”

“Retarded queer?”

Sam could feel Silver tense up where they were beside her, could feel her own vision going red.

“Alice, shut the fuck up for once in your miserable, pathetic life.”

“Samantha, you can’t seriously-”

“I said  _ shut up, _ or I will  _ make _ you.”

“Is that a threat?”

Sam didn’t bother to answer that, helping Silver get to the bedroom, finding their headphones and making sure they wouldn’t hurt themselves against the wall. Things Silver had talked to her about for when they couldn’t communicate it themselves. They nodded, signing  _ thank-you _ , and Sam nodded back.

“Do you want me to stay?”

Silver shook their head.

“Alright. I’ll be back in a couple minutes to check though, is that okay?”

After a pause, Silver nodded.

_ Not-too-long. _

“Got it. I’ll be back, then.”

Sam left the room. She stared at her mother.

“Leave.”

“Samantha.”

“Leave or, by the  _ stars _ I will make you. I will call the police.”  _ I’ll call Dipper, if it comes to it. _

“Samantha, we’re not done here.”

“Well, I am. You come here  _ uninvited, _ you insult my friends, you throw slurs at Silver, you insist on being pro-nat in a college town in a building  _ next door _ to the local preter resource center-”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Get. The fuck. Out. Of my life, Alice.”

“Samantha, you’re out of hand.” Her dad’s voice interrupted, and she turned to him.

“You. You get to leave, too. I took this shit for eighteen years of my life, I’m not going to take it any more.”

“Samantha, this is uncalled for. We’ve never actually  _ hurt _ you or anything.”

“Oh, sure, but you sure fucking said a lot. I’m done with you. Get out now. You have until the count of three before I call the police.”

“Samantha.”

“One.”

“Samantha Elizabeth-”

“Two.”

“Samantha Elizabeth Reese, you  _ will _ listen to your mother-”

“Three.”

She fished out her phone and dialed-

No Service.

What?

She stared at her mother, who smiled.

“Samantha, we’re not done.”

Sam breathed in through her nose, preparing to go call for Dipper.

She didn’t need to.

At that moment, Dipper, as Tyrone, walked through the door.

“...Is there a problem? Did I miss something?”

“Yeah. Something.” She stared at Alice.

“They need to leave.” Alice did something to Sam’s phone.

Dipper looked between the three of them.

“Silver?”

“Silver’s calming down in the room, because my mom can’t keep her  _ stupid _ mouth shut.”

“Samantha, we’ve been over this.”

“You called them- you- I-”

“Need my help?”

On the one hand, demon. On the other hand...

“Yeah. Yeah, I do, because they won’t listen to me. Maybe they’ll listen to you.”

“On something that’s for your own good, Samantha?”

“F̢i҉ņal͠ly, ͡I'v̷e̴ ̴bee̸n͘ ͢want̨i͘n̡g ̛t̷o͠ ̸d̵o͘ ̴t̷h͟is͢ all w͏ęek!”

Alice went silent. Dipper grinned from across the room, and held open the apartment door.

“You get one chance to leave without any kind of repercussion! However, if you’re not out the door by the time I get to three, we’re going to have a c̷h̨a̕t͡.҉ Sound good?”

“Samantha, what-”

“One!”

Sam smiled.

“You should probably get going.”

“You-”

“Two!”

“I’m going to call an exorcist, the police, you should stay out of this stuff, Samantha-”

Sam pointed to the door.

“Sure you will.”

Dipper grinned.

“Two and a half, one last chance!”

Her parents got up. Her mom shot her one last look.

“Samantha, you are no longer a part of this family. You have broken rules-”

“Good! Now get out.”

“Three!”

Her parents left just as Dipper hit three, and he smiled.

“B͡y͟e!͢”

He slammed the door shut.

Sam slumped against the wall, a shuddering breath leaving her.

“I want to know what happened, for real, though.”

“I’ll... yeah. I’ll... explain, just... oh god that was so stupid of me, why did I-”

“What, why’d you tell them to get lost? They’re idiots, that’s why.” Dipper fell back into is usual appearance, floating over to her. “But hey, you told them to scram. I hear that’s a good decision with people like them.”

Sam snorted, leaning against Dipper.

“I feel really shaky, what the hell-”

“Adrenaline. It’ll wear off but you should sit down.”

“Silver-”

“Go sit down with Silver, then.”

Sam nodded.

“I... I think I’m going to change majors.”

Dipper stared.

“Not that I’m going to tell you no, but, why?”

“I want to get into advocacy. I want to make it so people don’t... have to feel like I did when I turned. I... I want to make things better, and... demons are still interesting, of course, but...”

“But you’re probably biased and would suck at summoning anything, anyway, everyone can tell you’re Mizar and are going to stay away from you like the plague.”

“...Yeah, something like that.” She smiled, weakly. “I... I just want to do something useful with my life.”

Dipper was quiet.

“I think that’s a perfectly good idea. Let’s go check on Silver, though. I can feel them worrying in the other room.”

“Yeah.”

* * *

The next day, Sam had explained to Dipper what had happened with her parents.

“Can I set the sheep on her now?”

Sam smiled.

“You know what, yeah. You can  _ absolutely _ set the demon sheep on my mother.”

Dipper grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was kind of rough.  
> The next thing I have going is not nearly this rough.  
> Sorry for this, hope you enjoyed anyway!


End file.
